The first gallery of the library with the portrait of Archbishop Marsh

The first gallery houses the collection of Edward Stillingfleet, dean of St Paul’s in London and then bishop of Worcester. Thought by his contemporaries to be ‘the finest private library in England’ his collection was offered for sale after the bishop’s death in 1699. Marsh entered negotiations with Stillingfleet’s son and eventually bought the library intact. The books remain on the shelves as they were originally placed